Oakland officials considering police budget cuts
The Oakland City Council is expected to decide Tuesday on a proposal that would cut millions of dollars from the Police Department’s budget.
With the city facing an $83 million budget shortfall, council members are considering slashing 10 percent of the department’s personnel budget.
The police officers’ union’s contract would be the most significant portion of the proposed cuts.
Oakland police officers are due a 4 percent increase on July 1, but the union is considering pushing back the pay incrt ease aleast until July 17 while budget negotiations continue.
Patrick Signs 2010 Budget; Vetoes $147M in Spending
With days left in the fiscal year, Gov. Deval Patrick on Monday signed into law a $27 billion budget for the coming year — lighter than the Legislature’s version by $147 million in line item vetoes.
The budget signed by the governor, coupled with the supplemental legislation he is filing, is 3 percent lower than budget he signed just one year ago. It also adds on about a $1 billion in tax increases, according the Boston Globe.
CA:Agencies waiting for budget ax to fall
Lawmakers will likely vote Wednesday on the most recent state budget proposal, but Republicans say tax increases included in the budget won’t pass.
But as lawmakers continue to work on an agreement to close the state’s estimated $24.3 billion gap, public and private agencies are anxious to hear how much of their budgets they’ll still have when the new fiscal year begins July 1.
The legislature is set to vote Wednesday morning on the budget proposal submitted by the Democratic-controlled budget conference committee, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. The budget includes about $2 billion in new or increases taxes that Republicans say they are united against.
“I get the sense that we’re rock solid,” said Assembly Republican Whip Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, who has said there will be consequences for Republicans who vote for tax hikes. “Discussing it with other members … I haven’t gotten anything but a `no.”‘
In the meantime, agencies don’t know if their programs will face dire cuts as proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or smaller cuts proposed by legislative Democrats.
Shriver: Most Californians don’t want budget cuts
Californians seem to want it all, says first lady Maria Shriver. They oppose billions of dollars in cuts to address the state’s massive budget deficit but are not willing to pay more for the services they enjoy.
The first lady, visiting Sacramento on Tuesday for the opening of an Abraham Lincoln exhibit at the California Museum, said people talk to her all the time about California’s $24.3 billion budget shortfall and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed solutions.
Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts include eliminating health care for nearly 1 million poor children, increasing class sizes in public schools, slashing in-home services for the frail and closing more than 200 state parks.
“Don’t close the parks, don’t cut from education, don’t cut from health care, don’t cut from anything,” said Shriver, amplifying what people tell her. “I say, ‘We have a $25 billion deficit: What would you do?’”
Californians seem to want it all, says first lady Maria Shriver. They oppose billions of dollars in cuts to address the state’s massive budget deficit but are not willing to pay more for the services they enjoy.
The first lady, visiting Sacramento on Tuesday for the opening of an Abraham Lincoln exhibit at the California Museum, said people talk to her all the time about California’s $24.3 billion budget shortfall and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed solutions.
Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts include eliminating health care for nearly 1 million poor children, increasing class sizes in public schools, slashing in-home services for the frail and closing more than 200 state parks.
“Don’t close the parks, don’t cut from education, don’t cut from health care, don’t cut from anything,” said Shriver, amplifying what people tell her. “I say, ‘We have a $25 billion deficit: What would you do?’”
Colorado faces $384 million budget shortfall
Colorado lawmakers learned Monday they face another round of budget cuts because tax revenues are expected to be down another $384 million for the budget year that starts next week. The total shortfall could grow as high as $838 million next year – depending on how soon and how deep lawmakers make cuts – because of job losses and reduced consumer spending.
Just as they did earlier this year, lawmakers and Gov. Bill Ritter could decide to raise certain fees or come up with one-time money in addition to cutting state services for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Any permanent cuts would reduce that $838 million cumulative shortfall the following year.
Ritter, a Democrat, said state agencies would hold the line on spending, hiring and travel, but that more “tough choices” would have to be made in the budget lawmakers passed for the new fiscal year. He declined to give specifics, saying he wanted to talk to state lawmakers who oversee the budget first.
Libraries fighting proposed budget cuts
With less than two weeks to go before state legislators are supposed to sign off on the next two-year budget, advocates for Ohio’s libraries are mounting a campaign to fight cuts they say could close the books for some in the state.
The Ohio Library Council this week began a Save our Libraries campaign encouraging citizens to contact legislators and Gov. Ted Strickland and urging libraries to create signs and handouts. The effort comes only days after Strickland rolled out a balanced budget framework that looks to generate $227.3 million in revenue over the next two fiscal years by cutting the amount the state transfers from its general revenue fund to the Public Library Fund by about 30 percent.
Strickland’s framework also includes plans to raise nearly $1 billion in the next two-year cycle by allowing Ohio’s seven horse-racing tracks to install video slot machines, and to cut spending by about $1.3 billion across agencies, boards and commissions, and another $770 million from Medicaid. The last-minute tweaks are aimed at plugging a two-year budget hole projected at about $3.2 billion for the two-year cycle that begins July 1.
Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst defended the governor’s decision as “not a matter of the worthiness of programs,” saying the library cuts are generally in line with reductions most state agencies are taking.
Ill. service agencies work to fight budget cuts
Unions and social service agencies worked behind the scenes Tuesday to try to save programs for needy Illinois residents as thousands of people flocked to the state Capitol to rally for a tax increase to avoid deep budget cuts.
The groups have been calling, faxing and meeting with lawmakers to persuade them to raise the state income tax instead of axing $9.2 billion in spending. Gov. Pat Quinn and others have warned the cuts will gut a host of social service programs for children, senior citizens, the poor and disabled.
“There’s not a human service provider that has gone untouched in the state so to find a lawmaker who has not received a call from a human service provider from Cairo to Rockford would be unimaginable,” said David Ormsby, the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association spokesman.
Panel that can’t block Minn. budget cuts to meet
Top legislators meet Thursday to examine Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s plan to delay school payments and cut spending on local governments, health care and higher education.
The Legislative Advisory Commission is expected to have plenty of questions for Tom Hanson, Pawlenty’s top finance official, but the panel can’t block the cuts.
PA:Rendell orders $500 million in budget cuts
Gov. Rendell yesterday ordered his cabinet to cut the proposed 2009-10 budget by an additional $500 million, warning that the economic situation was “very, very dire” and that difficult funding decisions must be made.
Rendell presented each department with a list of recommended cuts, but gave secretaries until Monday to come back with their own suggestions if they don’t like his.
The governor’s office would not release a detailed list of its suggested cuts, but it said the Departments of Education, Public Welfare, and Community and Economic Development would be hit hardest, yielding slightly more than $360 million of the $500 million. The state’s projected budget deficit is $3.2 billion.
Rendell also wants to raise the state’s personal income tax by 16.5 percent, from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent, for three years to help deal with the effects of the recession.
Palo Alto approves $10 million in budget cuts
The city council on Monday unanimously approved a 2009-10 general fund budget that includes $10 million in cuts, offsetting a steep drop in tax revenue due to the faltering economy.
The vote capped a months-long budget process that several council members said was the toughest of their careers.
City Manager James Keene pointed the way with a proposal to share the burden roughly equally between employee wages and city services. In all, the budget shaves 23 full-time positions from the city’s general-fund staff roster, bringing it to 622. Most of those positions were already vacant.
The service changes include shorter hours for city parks, higher fees for many services and the elimination of one of the police department’s two school resource officers, who patrol Gunn and Palo Alto high schools.
Loose ends remain. The budget assumes concessions from three major employee unions, but only one of those — the police officers union — has actually agreed to the revised contract. The firefighters union said more than a month ago it would follow suit, but it has yet to do so. And the Service Employees International Union is just entering negotiations with the city but so far is resisting pay cuts.
If those unions don’t accept givebacks, the city will face further cuts.